


Mister Jo-Jo and the Tündér

by WhatWldMrsWeasleyDo



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-09
Updated: 2014-04-09
Packaged: 2018-01-18 19:12:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1439650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatWldMrsWeasleyDo/pseuds/WhatWldMrsWeasleyDo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joseph's toys wake up again on the day when he finds true happiness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mister Jo-Jo and the Tündér

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as part of the [](http://originalbigbang.livejournal.com/profile)[**originalbigbang**](http://originalbigbang.livejournal.com/) reverse bang, inspired by [ this artwork here](http://deadflowers5.livejournal.com/97787.html#cutid1).  
>  Thanks to my betas - [](http://aigooism.livejournal.com/profile)[**aigooism**](http://aigooism.livejournal.com/) and [](http://starstruck1986.livejournal.com/profile)[**starstruck1986**](http://starstruck1986.livejournal.com/) and to [](http://deadflowers5.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://deadflowers5.livejournal.com/)**deadflowers5** for the inspiration and information. I hope you like the way this story turned out.  
>  **Artist:** [](http://deadflowers5.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://deadflowers5.livejournal.com/)**deadflowers5**  
>  **Genre:** Supernatural m/m romance.  
>  **Pairings:** Mr Jo-Jo/ the American (ie Joseph/David).  
>  **Warnings:** Reference to previous homophobic bullying.  
> 

Mister Jo-Jo and the _Tündér_

"What can you see?"

"Pixie girl! What's going on?"

Pixie creaked her senses awake. She felt stiff; it had been a long time. How long? She felt dried out, though her window felt cold and wet. The voices were still just sounds. It was important that the words became sense, but she couldn't quite remember how to do it.

"Come on, Pixie! There's something going on in the garden. Mister Jo-Jo is back; he looked in here. Wake up, Pixie!"

At first she recognised only the voice. It made her think of fur – soft, golden, long fur. Black eyes as well. She didn't have a name yet.

It was early morning. That was why the window was wet. The condensation had built up around the wood of the frame. As she came back to life she began to feel the world beyond the glass. There was some sunlight out there, warming her core but cracking her edges. Her vision was still blurred, but she thought that the voice was probably right – there _was_ something going on the garden. A hum of human voices rose and babbled inside her consciousness, and coloured, blurry blobs were moving out there.

It had been a long time since there had been any life worth speaking of anywhere around this little room. That was why she had sunk herself into such a deep coma.

"What can you see, Pixie?" That voice meant shiny red paint.

"I can't see anything yet. Give me a moment," she replied. Her voice sounded croaky, but it didn't hurt.

"Oh! You _are_ alive!"

She responded without thinking: "Yes, Red Mouse, I am alive. How are you, now?"

"More pink than red," he sighed. "Not a lot of stuffing left, either. I think I'm a bit of a faded, washed-out mess, to be honest. But I suppose we are all very old now."

"It doesn't matter. Mister Jo-Jo is back."

"Hello, Teddy Cuddles," Pixie said. She peered into the dark of Jo-Jo's bedroom and her brain began to form shapes out of what she saw. She saw Teddy Cuddles on the floor. His fur wasn't long and golden any more; now he was smooth and beige. One of his black eyes was broken. These changes had happened gradually through all the nights that Jo-Jo had hugged him close.

The bed was unmade behind him. Nobody had slept on that bare mattress in a long time.

The Wooden Soldier wasn't shiny with new red paint any more, either. Pine showed through in scratches. "He's not called Mister Jo-Jo. I do wish you would stop calling him that. He hasn't been called Jo-Jo for a long time and it was never _Mister_ Jo-Jo. When he started school, he became Joe. That's what he wrote on the top of all his pictures, remember."

"And on the front of the books and at the tops of the pages," Red Mouse remembered excitedly.

Pixie looked for Red Mouse. There was a heap of fabric on the top of the bedside table. That might have been him. She wondered where everyone else was.

"And then Joe Benson as he got older. That was on his school bag and inside his uniform," Wooden Soldier said. "Pixie, is there something going on in the garden? Can you see?"

Pixie wondered why they kept asking her. What about Goblin and Sprite? They could see out of the window as well as she could. She looked across the glass she sat on. The white paint was flaking off the wood and she could see that underneath it was soft and dark – rotting away. She looked for her friends, for the other window stickers. They had formed a scene of shadows – flowers and birds and magical creatures. There were other toadstools, too, like the one she sat on. She searched across the wet glass.

Eventually she found a foot – a single black foot. There were a few other dark patches of curling plastic, but only the foot was recognisable. She was the only one left.

Red Mouse was still reminiscing. "That was the red and grey uniform. When he got the brown one, when he was older, the name labels had _Joseph Benson_ written on them. And it was on the trunk. And then he went away."

"He came back for the holidays," Teddy Cuddles said. "For Christmas and Easter and some of the summer." He sighed. "But he didn't need to sleep with me any more."

"Where have the rest of the toys gone?" Red Mouse asked. "Are we the only ones left?"

There was no answer.

Pixie looked away from the dusty bedroom, and away from the pane. She looked out into the garden as they had asked her. She didn't want to think of what was gone.

"Are you sure it was him?" Wooden Soldier asked. "He used to have brown hair. It was curly. The man who looked in here just now had no hair at all."

"That's because he's Mr Benson, now, like his Daddy. He doesn't have hair either," Red Mouse replied. "That's what 'Mister' means."

There was a weak morning sun out in the garden. Part of Pixie's view was obscured by a cobweb. The dew on its threads twinkled and made it difficult to make out what was going on. There were people, though, of that she was sure.

"I see a bald man!" she announced. "Is that him?" She paused, waiting. "I wish he'd turn round so I could see his face. Is that really Mister Jo-Jo? He's wearing jeans and carrying a pile of chairs. I see his Mummy. Her hair has all turned grey and it's pinned up on the top off her head. She's got two mugs of something hot. Her dressing gown looks new."

"Chairs?" asked Wooden Soldier.

"Yes, he's put them down. He's putting them down in a row facing the house. Now he's taking the mug from Mummy. Oh! It is him! His hair has all gone, but his face is the same. He looks so happy. I haven't seen him look so happy in a long time."

The toys behind her made noises of relief and contentment.

"He did hug you sometimes, Teddy Cuddles, after he had gone away to that school," Pixie said.

"But only when he was crying," Teddy said.

"What did he talk to you about on those nights?" Red Mouse asked.

"Secrets," Teddy replied.

"But it was so long ago," said Wooden Soldier. "Can it really still matter if you tell us?"

"His Daddy is in the garden, now," Pixie said. "Jo-Jo is taller than Daddy. Daddy's carrying chairs, too. And there's another man. There are so many chairs. I think there are going to be a lot of people in the garden today. I hope it stays sunny."

"The other boys were not very nice to him at school," Teddy said suddenly. "That's what it was. They called him names. He didn't have any friends."

"Why didn't he tell Mummy and Daddy about it?" Red Mouse asked. "They wouldn't have made him go back. They can't have known."

"They were called Mum and Dad by then," Teddy corrected. "And he didn't tell them anything, because of what the bad names were."

"Sticks and stones," Wooden Soldier said dismissively. "He should have said something. Why did he put up with being unhappy? Coming home and crying all over you? Tell Mummy and she makes it better. That was always the rule."

"He didn't want to tell her because the names were true. He thought that would make her sad. He thought she might not love him any more."

"What names?" Pixie asked.

"He didn't tell me. He said he couldn't tell me because they were true. It was all too terrible, he said."

There was silence in the room. The people in the garden were still putting out chairs. The glass gradually warmed through. The dew still shimmered on the cobweb outside. Pixie's senses continued to wake up and her nostrils filled with the smell of stale dust.

"And then one summer he came home and school was all over," Red Mouse said. "He was happy then."

"But he went away and after that he never came back," Teddy said sadly.

"He's back now," Pixie replied. "And he's happy!"

"He wasn't always sad in the Boarding School years," Red Mouse insisted. "There were Happy Easters with chocolate."

"Egg hunts in the garden with the cousins," Pixie said. "Mummy's got flowers in tall vases and she's putting them round the garden: white flowers and green fronds. She's putting them on the ends of the rows of chairs. Little yellow flowers, too."

"There were Merry Christmases," Red Mouse added.

"The three men – Jo-Jo and Daddy and the other one – they're carrying out pots with more flowers in. It's looking very pretty. Does anyone know what time of year it is? It feels too late to be Easter."

"Joseph's favourite present was that watch from Cousin Mariella's fiancé," Teddy said.

"That was the Christmas that the _tündér_ came back," said Pixie.

"The what?"

"The _tündér_." Pixie looked into the room. The toys were looking at her and they all looked puzzled. She thought back. That was right. She hadn't ever told them then, she hadn't told them about any of the Magical creatures. She and Goblin and Sprite had kept those things secret. The toys had never seen the Easter Bunny nor Father Christmas, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman or the Birthday Man. They hadn't seen the Water Nymphs in the bird bath and they knew nothing about the _tündér_. They didn't know why they could wake, unlike ordinary toys.

There was nothing new in the garden now, nothing worth watching, and so she told them. "The _tündér_ is a Hungarian Fairy. She's beautiful and she always brings good things," Pixie said. "Before Jo-Jo was born, there was a tree in our garden which had come all the way from Hungary, like Jo-Jo's Mummy. At the moment of his birth -" She paused for dramatic effect. She didn't know for sure whether it had actually been at the exact same moment as he was born, but that was how she liked to think of it. "A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, clefting that tree in twain." She was getting carried away by the romance of it all; she knew it and she didn't care. The next part, though, she knew was true, because the _tündér_ had told her this herself. "That maple tree became a fairy, a beautiful Hungarian fairy called a _tündér_."

"You weren't a sticker on the window then," protested Wooden Soldier. "How can you possibly know about that?"

"I'm Hungarian," Pixie sniffed. "I'm not really a pixie at all. That's what she told me. I'm a _tündér_ too."

"Jo-Jo always called you Pixie. And we only care about what he says," said Red Mouse.

"Mummy went back to Hungary, well, the part that is Slovakia now. She tried to find her family, but she couldn't. Jo-Jo was a small boy then. She brought him back a book of their Fairy Tales and the window sticker scene – me and Sprite and ..." but it was all gone except her, and suddenly Pixie didn't want to say it out loud. "That's when the _tündér_ came back, and when she saw the window she was so happy that she made all of Jo-Jo's toys come to life. All of you, and us on the window, too."

"Really?" asked Wooden Soldier.

"Yes. Think about it. Jo-Jo was given Teddy Cuddles when he was born, but Teddy, you can't remember the window before the scene was stuck on it, can you?"

"It's true," said Teddy Cuddles. "It is true." He paused. "And the window scene characters did like to whisper secrets to each other. It doesn't surprise me that you knew about Magical things and didn't tell the rest of us."

Pixie stared out into the garden. "It sort of made up for all of Jo-Jo's secrets which only you were told."

"How often did the toondah come back?" asked Red Mouse.

Pixie was about to correct his pronunciation, but just then Wooden Soldier ordered them to "Shush", as Mr Jo-Jo walked into the room.

His face was the same – almost – as the last time they had seen him. There were a few wrinkles around his eyes, which hadn't been visible from the garden. And his hair had gone. Pixie and the toys froze, stared and listened. He looked around the room, his face expressionless. Then he bent down and picked up Teddy Cuddles. He smiled.

"There you are. Your mom's fussing about waistcoats. So, what's this place?" Another man stepped into the room. He was slightly taller than Mr Jo-Jo, with dark hair which was cut very short. His face was young and relaxed and kind. His voice was funny, though. He had an accent which Pixie had only heard before drifting up from the television downstairs.

Jo-Jo looked embarrassed and let Teddy Cuddles drop to his side.

"Oh My God! I don't believe it. Let me see. He is adorable. He was your teddy?" The other man snatched Teddy Cuddles out of Jo-Jo's hand. He lifted the bear until it was in front of his face. Jo-Jo looked down at his feet and his face went red. That made the other man smile; then his face froze into something more solemn and he looked right into Teddy's scratched, plastic eyes. "So, this is the one you cried on when you escaped that god-damned school?"

"You remembered?"

"It made for such a pitiful picture. How could I forget?"

"Pathetic more like." Mr Jo-Jo tried to grab Teddy Cuddles back again.

His friend held it up out of his reach. "Not at all," he said. "I won't have you saying that. Those boys were bastards. Bullies. And the staff did nothing to stop them. Who wouldn't have needed a bear to cry on?" He closed his eyes and pressed the smooth, worn-out fabric to his cheek. "Does he have a name? I'm assuming it's a 'he'."

"Of course." Jo-Jo pulled a face. "I slept with him, didn't I?"

The other man laughed. Then he said, "My sleepy toy was a pink unicorn called Violetta, actually."

They both laughed.

"I can just imagine your dad's reaction to that!" Jo-Jo said. "His name is Teddy Cuddles." He frowned and added quietly, "I was so sure that he could hear me that I thought he answered me sometimes."

"Pleased to meet you Teddy Cuddles." He handed Teddy back to Jo-Jo. "So, you really were always this prosaically descriptive." He looked around the room. "This was your wallpaper, huh?"

"Dull, isn't it? I never really noticed." Jo-Jo placed Teddy Cuddles carefully on the mattress.

The other man wandered over to the window. "Nice view, though." He looked past Pixie. "The garden looks great. This afternoon is going to be so gorgeous. Oh, that reminds me! Your mom --"

"Oh, yes. Waistcoats. You said."

"She can't tell whose is which apparently."

"Does it matter?"

"And the cars for the Register Office will be here in about forty five minutes, so she wants us to start getting dressed up." The man took Jo-Jo's hand and led him out of the room.

Jo-Jo looked back swiftly as he left. Then they were gone.

"Who's he?" Red Mouse asked.

"Where are you, Red Mouse?" Pixie asked. "I can't see you." She peered into the room.

"I'm under the bed," he replied. "But I heard everything and I saw most of it. Who was that other man, the one with the funny voice?"

"It's an American accent," Wooden Soldier replied. Pixie noticed that he didn't have any other answers.

"They said they were going to the Register Office," Red Mouse continued. "But that's for births, deaths and marriages. What's happening? They were happy, so nobody died. I'm confused."

"Calm down," said Teddy Cuddles from his new position on the bed. He was looking straight to Pixie now and it seemed to her that he was smiling.

"Do you think it might be a wedding?" Wooden Soldier asked. "Yes. I think that's it. It's going to be Mr Jo-Jo's wedding. That's why he's come back here. There'll be a party in the garden. I wonder what his bride is like. I do hope we get to meet her."

"I think we just did," said Teddy Cuddles.

"What are you talking about?" asked Pixie. The only woman she had seen was Mummy. She didn't understand. "His wedding day?" she was thinking back, there was something she needed to remember. It was something sad, she thought.

"A marriage is a boy and a girl, a prince and princess. Happily ever after," squeaked Red Mouse. He sounded like he was still confused.

Teddy Cuddles cleared his throat. "Mr Jo-Jo doesn't want to marry a girl. I think that man – the American – is going to marry our Jo-Jo, and I for one think he seems very nice. I'm pleased. Jo-Jo won't be sad any more." Then he added, with just a touch of melancholy, "My work is done."

That was what made Pixie remember. It all flooded through her in a rush. She bit her lip. Then she looked out to the garden, searching for the flash of wings in the sunlight.

"What were we talking about?" Red Mouse asked quietly. "Before Jo-Jo came in with his, erm, man-wife? I think it was something important."

Pixie knew that it was, and she knew now that she needed to explain the magic to the toys. She didn't want to; it was going to make them sad.

"It was the watch," Wooden Soldier announced decisively. "And I think that Teddy Cuddles needs to tell us the whole story. I think he might finally manage to explain a few things."

"Oh, yes. Joseph's favourite present - that watch from Cousin Mariella's fiancé," Teddy said. "You're right, Wooden Soldier. That story will help to explain things. But I don't think it matters. We all love Joe. We loved him at every age and with every name that he had, and we will love him however he lives his life and whoever he lives it with. Won't we?"

"But you knew, didn't you? That he was not as other men?"

"For goodness' sake, Soldier! That's a stupid thing to say. It's a stupid expression! You're as bad as the bullies at the boarding school!" Teddy snapped.

"Was that why they teased him?" Red Mouse asked. "The names they called him? Is that why he cried? Why he didn't tell Mummy?"

"I have the utmost respect for Master Joseph." Wooden Soldier sniffed. "I am merely annoyed that you kept this information from us, Teddy Cuddles."

"It doesn't matter!" Teddy insisted.

Pixie thought she knew why Teddy had kept the secret, though. It made her feel guilty. He had enjoyed the secret power of knowing something the rest of them did not. They had always competed for Jo-Jo's attention, all of them had. She and Sprite and Goblin had been the same. She had had her secrets, and Teddy had had his. Soon she would tell all, too.

"He loved the watch that Mariella's fiancé gave him," Red Mouse reminded them all.

"Stephen he was called. It was a perfectly ordinary watch, but the person who gave it to him was special, that's why he loved it so much. Joseph was eleven and his cousin Mariella was twenty and about to get married. The two families spent Christmas together that year, with Grandpa and Grandma, and with Stephen, who was going to marry Mariella. He bought extravagant gifts for everyone, no doubt in order to impress his future family. We never saw Stephen, of course, but he must have impressive, because Joseph was completely smitten." Teddy paused.

"It was a funny watch," Red Mouse said, "I remember that much. It was on a chain, not a wrist strap. It was made of shiny metal and cold glass. Jo-Jo used me to polish it up a few times."

"He used to hold it and look at it for hours. Are you telling us that it was this Stephen he was really thinking of?" asked Wooden Soldier.

"He was in love," Teddy said simply.

"But Stephen married Mariella, didn't he?" Pixie asked.

"Of course he did. He never even knew that there was a child, a boy, who cried his heart out on the night of that wedding, and for many nights afterwards."

"I used to see Mariella and Stephen in the garden when they visited. They brought all those children of theirs here. Jo-Jo never looked quite comfortable about it. It makes sense now," Pixie mused.

Teddy asked, "Was Stephen exceptionally handsome?"

"Not _exceptionally_ ," Pixie replied.

They heard the sound of cars at the front of the house. Pixie's window was warm and dry now and the dew had evaporated off that cobweb.

There was quiet in the bedroom for a while. Pixie began to doze again. She wanted to be asleep so that she didn't have to think about the end and how she was going to tell the toys about it.

Her heart sank when Red Mouse spoke: "Pixie. Tell us about the toondah now."

"Tündér," she corrected. Then she took a deep breath and began her story:

On that first visit, the tündér had woken Pixie and brought her to life, delighted to find another of her kind in this foreign land. She had told Pixie about their homeland, which she missed very much. Worried that Pixie would be lonely between her visits, she had awoken Goblin and Sprite, too.

Behind Pixie, beyond the curtain, Jo-Jo had slept and Pixie had asked the fairy about him. When the _tündér_ looked into the boy's future, it had made her very sad. "He will be happy," she had said, "eventually. But only after many years of sorrow." The four of them discussed ways to ease his sadness. The _tündér's_ powers were limited, but one thing which she could do, was to make his toys come to life, so that at least they would be real friends for the time when he had none among the humans.

And so she had woken Teddy Cuddles, Wooden Soldier and the rest. She had made them sentient, unlike other toys. While Jo-Jo lived at home, she visited every few months, to chat with Pixie, but also to check up on Jo-Jo. She yearned to return to Hungary, and in time she found a way to do it. Her magic was not strong, though, and in order for Jo-Jo's toys to retain consciousness she had to keep close.

"One day he will be happy," she told Pixie. "When he has a human to stay with him, one who will love him forever, then he will not need these playthings to keep him safe. Then I will return them to their inanimate state and that's when I will be free to fly East."

Pixie said no more, but Teddy Cuddles had guessed the rest of the story.

"This is our last day, isn't it, Pixie? He has found the love of his life and today they will be married and Jo-Jo won't need us any more. Will he?"

"I think that's right," said Pixie.

There was a thick silence in the airless room.

"What does that mean?" asked Red Mouse.

"We're going to die," pronounced Wooden Soldier.

Red Mouse squeaked.

"No!" Pixie protested. "No, Wooden Soldier. Not die. It's more that we never should have been and soon we won't be!"

"I don't want to die," Red Mouse said, breathlessly. He snuffled. "I want Mister Jo-Jo to be happy but I don't want to die."

"When will she come?" asked Teddy Cuddles.

"I don't know," Pixie admitted and she watched the sky for wings.

After a little while, people came into the garden. First there were the caterers in starched black uniforms holding trays of drinks and food, and then the guests in beautiful clothes. Pixie described everything in detail. Jo-Jo and the American walked into the garden, and everyone stopped what they were doing to clap and cheer them.

"He'll be horribly embarrassed," Teddy Cuddles said with a fond smile.

"He's doing very well," Pixie assured him. "He's talking to lots of people. Not shy like he used to be."

"Is the American man with him?" Teddy asked.

"All the time. They're holding hands."

Teddy sighed. "That's why then. He must be happy. That man has made him truly happy. I wondered sometimes whether it would ever happen."

Red Mouse squeaked miserably.

"People are sitting down now," Pixie said, "on all those rows of chairs that Jo-Jo and Daddy and the American put out earlier. Jo-Jo and the American are standing behind them all. Jo-Jo's wearing a hat. It is quite sunny and he hasn't got any hair any more of course."

"Is it his nice white floppy one with the train on?" Red Mouse asked.

Wooden Soldier laughed. "He's a grown man, Mouse. I think that one might look a little silly today. Is it a peaked cap? A top hat?"

"Is it felt, black? With a dip down the middle of the top and a thick ribbon band round it?" Teddy Cuddles asked.

"How did you know?" asked Pixie.

Teddy's voice had a smile in it. "He always wanted a hat like that. He talked about it frequently. Stephen had one."

Music started up from somewhere downstairs. The toys were quiet.

"They're walking down the aisle between the chairs," Pixie said, then, "They're standing at the front, looking at everybody."

The American started to speak. He was standing directly under Pixie's window and they heard every word.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming here today. Some of you have come a very long way. Joseph and I are very grateful to you all. I know that some of you were at the Register Office where we did all the solemn and legal partnership business. This won't take long. We just wanted to share some things that are special to us and kind of do a more romantic vow thing. I'm not good at this public speaking. How am I doing? Am I messing it up?"

Jo-Jo's voice was soft, but they clearly heard him say, "Not yet, darling."

The people watching laughed, it was a nice laugh, though, a friendly thing.

"You're doing a wonderful job," Jo-Jo added when the laughter stopped. Then he did something which his childhood companions had never thought that he would do: he addressed that crowd of people. He sounded happy and in control of himself and not shy or scared at all.

"Look, we'll say these pieces," he said, "and then we can go inside to eat. That's when we'll do the traditional speeches and read out the messages from people who couldn't get here, including David's grandfather, who's not well. Our thoughts are with him today."

David. So that was the name of the man who would make their Jo-Jo so happy that they were no longer needed. It sounded so ordinary, although it was a death sentence. At the same time, Jo-Jo had been the centre of their world always, and making him happy had been their goal and focus. David was the name of an angel, then, as well as the end of everything.

David recited a poem next, and the toys were quiet while he did so, but Pixie knew that they were all trapped in their own thoughts. When Jo-Jo said his piece, they listened more closely, but it was his voice they were listening to, not his words. It was deeper, of course, and more full, but it had the light joy in it which he had once had as a small boy and which had been taken from him when he had gone away to school.

Pixie looked at them, at the tops of their heads – one hairless and one with a light covering of dark hair. She admired the closeness of their bodies – arms wrapped around each other. It was then, when she had stopped looking for them, that the wings fluttered against the sun. By the time Pixie saw her, the _tündér_ was almost touching the cobweb still strung across the pane. She looked up and into the fairy's eyes.

"She's here," she called back to the toys, without looking away from the _tündér_.

"You have warned them, then?" asked the _tündér_ with her beautiful, tinkling, lightly accented voice.

"I have," said Pixie. She found it hard to answer back, she always had, because of the awe which came over her in the presence of the _tündér_.

"Are we going to die now?" squeaked Red Mouse in fear.

"Think of it as sleep, my little one," said the _tündér_ , "now that your work is compete. Your boy has found someone who looks after him and makes him happy, he doesn't need enchanted toys any longer."

"Will David stay with him forever?" asked Teddy Cuddles slowly.

"As far as I can see, which is a long time into his future, I see David and Joseph together," said the _tündér_. "I am going to fly now, back to Hungary, to my home. It will be a long, slow journey. The further I get from this house, the weaker my influence over it will be. My magic will pass out of you all gradually. You will become once again objects made of no more than fabric, plastic, wood."

"Will it be painless?" asked Red Mouse.

"Completely," the _tündér_ promised. "Goodbye."

"Have a safe journey," Pixie said.

She watched the silvery flash of wings travel through the blue summer sky. The further away they were, the sleepier Pixie felt.

Then suddenly, the door to the room crashed open. Bodies fell loudly into the room. They stumbled, joined at the face. It was getting difficult to focus fully, but Pixie's fuddled brain worked out that she was seeing Joseph and his husband, that they were kissing.

"Ready for the speeches?" David asked after a minute – a minute during which the _tündér_ flew further away and the edges of everything grew less clear.

"I am now," Jo-Jo said.

"Can we get rid of this stupid hat?" David flung it onto the bed. It just missed Teddy Cuddles, who fell sideways. He looked drowsy like Pixie, but he looked happy.

"So, which one is Stephen? The famous cousin's husband. Your first love?" David teased. His voice sounded far away.

"I don't think you've met him," Jo-Jo answered. "He's around somewhere. I didn't really notice."

"Didn't notice!" David scoffed.

"I only have eyes for you, my dear."

"Really?"

Everything was fading. Pixie couldn't feel her legs, the warmth of the window didn't register any more.

"Come on. Speeches," David said and the two men moved towards the door.

Jo-Jo stopped, looked into the room, right onto Pixie's face, and smiled. Then he felt in his pocket and pulled out an object.

"One minute," he said and that was the last thing the Pixie window sticker ever heard.

He put his hand down on the window sill and when he went he left something behind. Dark flooded Pixie's vision as she stared at it, at the funny sort of watch with no strap which Jo-Jo had once spent hours staring at, and for which he no longer had any use. Pixie no longer needed anything now he no longer needed her. Softly and painlessly she ceased to be.  



End file.
